


The Hellhound Upstairs

by you_cant_eat_books_sweetheart



Series: Solangelo Week 2020 [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, RIORDAN Rick - Works, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Huldra Will Solace, I had a lot of fun with worldbuilding this, M/M, Not Beta Read, Solangelo Week, Solangelo Week 2020, Sorry that i cant tag, Succubus Nico di Angelo, We Die Like Men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24874066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/you_cant_eat_books_sweetheart/pseuds/you_cant_eat_books_sweetheart
Summary: Written for Day 3 of Solangelo Week 2020, the prompt was sci-fi/fantasy.Urban Fantasy Au. Will's a Huldra who moves to the big city and has a bit of a stressful life with his new residency. Lucky for him, his new (and very hot) neighbor upstairs might just have the solution for his stress.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794532
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40
Collections: Solangelo Week 2020





	The Hellhound Upstairs

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this! As always, please remember these fics were written on a much shorter timeline and aren't beta read!
> 
> I hope you can enjoy the stories anyhow!

It’s Will’s move to New York that changes everything.

It’s not like you expect to move halfway across the country and have your whole life upturned at the toss of some divine coin. Sometimes that’s what happens, life isn’t a movie, but sometimes you’re lucky enough to get a movie moment. 

And when you do? Seize that and don’t let it go.

  
  


New York is different than pretty much every other place in the country, packed full to the brim with a mixture of humans and mythics. It’s odd to Will, who’s managed to score an apartment in Manhattan, to see each street decorated so differently by the people who live there. He moved into a more flora-based mythic community, it reminded him of home in an odd way. 

Texas was rolling fields and dirt roads, but Manhattan had an almost European feel where he lived- brick paved roads and plants living every window down the street. Trees which had been planted between the road and sidewalk grew over both sides of the road creating a tunnel of trees along his street. They were blooming trees of some sort, Will was always seeing Nymphs and Dryads tending to them, making sure their limbs grew strong and tall. The branches of the trees were slowly being woven together over many years, so that one day all the branches would be braided together in an arch over the street. The tightly woven trees had made it hard to see on the street, Witches and Wizards had shown up one day and filled mason jars with ever-burning candles to be levitated from the trees. 

His street was lined with cafes and garden supplies stores, ethically sourced clothing stores full of both floral and fauna mythics alike. There was always a musician somewhere on the street below, and Will often had to catch himself to keep from singing along when his windows were open. 

To be honest, Will’s windows were his favorite thing.

He lived on the third floor of his building, two floors above a newly opened Lush location, and when he looked out his windows he could see the tops of all the trees. They reached up to the top of the second floor, which meant the residents above that level could only see the people on the sidewalk right below their window, they could see across the expanse of trees to their neighbors on the other side, but the trees looked like a lush pillow that you could jump into and sleep there.

It was Will’s favorite part of his new apartment, everyday when he got home from his residency he would sit on the window seat in his bedroom with the window open and stare out into the treetops and just relax as he watched the lady across the road tend to the vines around her window so that when they bloomed she had the most vibrant flowers.

Moving to New York had been more than a successful move on Will’s part.

He hadn’t lived in the state long, but it was one of those feelings when everything is going right- that weird feeling when you know, somehow, things are just going to keep looking up from there. Will had always been a rather optimistic person, and he didn’t let the fear of failure or being wrong prevent him from holding onto hope. 

Even the bad days were still weirdly good.

Working in a hospital anyone who didn’t fit the typical “healer” or “caregiver” vibe was immediately given odd looks. Will was no exception, once upon a time Huldras like him had been considered deceitful creatures who lured others with their beauty into deep forests to die, it earned him an odd reputation in the medical field, and more than a few double looks when people seen his tail. 

So what? A few idiots from your race start a cult and suddenly the whole lot is rotten? Did anybody remember when Huldra women were the ideal wife? Or how for many centuries they would babysit sleeping beings and keep them safe from harm while they rested? Apparently not, and now the community was expected to rebuild the lives lost as a show of power.

Don’t worry, as long as you never cross a Huldra you’ll have nothing to worry about except for a few passive aggressive comments at those who decided they should be hunted along with other demon-mythics for years. 

It wasn’t a big deal, Will liked to help people, and some odd double looks or people turning away his help didn’t get him too down. He’d go home and shower the day off with hot water, call his mom to catch up with what was going on at home, do some schoolwork, eat dinner, and then call Lou Ellen and Cecil on a group face-time. 

Most people seemed to fail during the first few months after they moved out, but Will? Will was living his best life, saving other people, trying to make some friends and a name for himself in the big city. 

In short, life was going about as well as one could expect for a male Huldra trying to get a medical degree while living in a flora-based community.

Here’s the thing though, life for Will was about to get a whole lot better, he just didn’t know it yet. 

  
  


It was a random Saturday when it happens. 

Will had been working unbelievable hours for the past month, and it had become pretty obvious by looking at the state of his plants, so Will was grateful for some time off that weekend. He spent Saturday morning that week feeding each of his plants a healthy dose of fertilizer and locking all his doors and windows so he could sing to them a bit. Hopefully they would all recover just fine with a little work and patience, it would be a good way for Will to take the edge off and get rid of some of his stress. 

Will wouldn’t switch careers for anything, but being the bottom of the barrel in a hospital had him at his wits end most days.

After he cares for all his plants, with the most love they’ve gotten in well over a month now, Will takes a shower before going down to collect his mail. At the time, he hadn’t even thought twice about the conversation he’d overheard, but looking back he wishes he would’ve.

There had been a Naiad visiting her Fairy friend who Will had seen a few times around the complex when coming in or out or getting his mail. The pair were gossiping across the room along the other set of mailboxes. 

“Guess what I just found out?” It’s the Fairy who starts the conversation, her voice a staccato sound in the otherwise empty hall.

“Hmmm, what?” Will jiggles his keys in his lock a bit to get the box open.

“I heard there’s a Demon living in the complex now- horns and everything!”

“Holy shit! Really?” 

“Yeah,” The other mailbox is slammed close just when Will opens his, “I’m surprised there was no note, even though it’s no longer a legal requirement when dark-mythics don't have a criminal record, they should still give all of us a warning in case we want to move.”

“Seriously, it’s dumb that it’s not a legal requirement- who would feel safe living near those beasts? Not me! I’d get out of here fast, Lily, first the Huldra and now a Demon? At least the Huldra was a guy though...”

“Marie-Anne!”

“What?”

There’s the sound of the Fairy slamming her heels down on the floor in anger.

“Oh, shit! Umm….”

Will grabs his mail, which is mostly bills and closes his mailbox. Sure, it hurts a little, but he’s heard worse.

Huldras aren’t really considered dark-mythics, like Demons, Vampires, and Werewolves, but they’re not really considered fauna-mythics like they should be. Huldras mostly stick to their own kind, too dark for your average mythic or human, and too light and plant based to be associated with dark-mythics. It was a complicated identity to balance for anyone, but especially when you’re a male Huldra.

Will places his mail on the counter top, and decides he hasn’t given his apartment a good scrub down in a while, so he walks to the cleaning closet and starts pulling out all his cleaning supplies. Disinfectants and floor cleaner, little clothes to wipe up dust, and his broom and mop. 

Half distracted, Will starts filling his sink with water and cleaning solution when his elbow hits the handle of the broom and sends both it and the mop crashing down to the floor. 

Rather unexpectedly a dog starts barking from upstairs,

It’s a strange sound coming from what had once been an empty apartment. The dog doesn’t bark much, only a few little sounds before all is calm again and Will resumes his cleaning process.

The sound of the bark doesn’t leave Will’s head, and he can hear the little paws scurrying all across the floor of the apartment upstairs. He spends the next few hours vaguely aware of the dog upstairs while he cleans, is that where their new apartment mate had moved in? What type of dog was it? Big or small? It didn’t have a yappy bark, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything, barks could be deceiving.

It’s a little past two and Will still can’t get the idea out of his head- he wishes he had a dog. It couldn’t hurt to ask...Besides, how awful could the person be? If they were really a demon like the girls in the hall said, they had to be pretty liberal and nice to live in a flora-mythic area! 

Will couldn’t go upstairs empty handed and just ask his neighbor to pet his dog- that’s weird, right? He had to bring something… Cookies! Everyone liked cookies, and besides that they were simple enough, if Will found a no-bake recipe he wouldn’t burn his house down. 

He could do this!

Will had already started to make his way up the stairs to the second floor with his no-bake cookies in hand before he had to squash any second doubts. What if they were mean? What if they had some sort of allergy to something in the cookies and Will killed them?

Worries are hard to push down, but he decided that all the possible problems that could come out of this interaction were for future Will to deal with.

Before he knew it, he was standing outside door 3A, his tail swishing a little bit with nerves about the whole situation. Will considered going back, he could just head downstairs back to his own apartment and eat the cookies himself nobody ever had to know about this whole ordeal, and he could pretend it never happened.

Will, going against his gut decides to knock- he just really wants to see if he can pet the dog, okay?

The second his hand finishes its first rap against the wood, he can hear the dog barking slightly- it’s not too terribly long before the owner opens the door, which makes Will feel good because it means he came at a decent time.

“Can I help you?”

The voice isn’t overly masculine or feminine, even if it is identifiable as a man's voice. It sounds absolutely wonderful, like someone striking silverware against a glass to make an announcement or sun warmed honey on a nice day.

But then the door opens fully, and Will has to physically restrain himself from making an embarrassing noise at seeing the man on the other side. He stands in the little space he’s made between the door and the trim, he’s shorter than Will, hell, probably a whole foot. He’s got doe eyes so dark you can’t tell where the iris and pupil begin an end, he’s lightly tanned skin, a lithe figure like a dancer, and so so beautiful. 

He’s got perfectly symmetrical features somehow, Will had always been an exceptionally beautiful Huldra- but he had never been beautiful like this. Some mythics were just different, almost like they were bred to be models and entertainers. His model-esque androgynous features definitely gave him that look, he was art in it’s purest form- he wasn’t a piece that made you feel jealous looking at him, he was someone you wanted to stare at forever because every single expression and movement was art.

Will could see where the confusion of him being a Demon came from, he had little horns on the top of his head. They were decently hidden in his mop of loosely curled black hair, you had to take a second look to see them, but they were there- thick and curled like a spiral on the sides of his head. But this was no Demon; Demon horns stood straight up and sprouted at puberty, growing longer across the course of their life from that point on. 

No, this person was much more wonderful than that, pure Succubus- no wonder he looked like a model, Succubi usually were.

Will realizes he’s probably been quite far too long, “Oh! Umm… I heard you were new around here and I also noticed you had a dog, and well, umm…”

“Oh,” The man’s lips part slightly and Will does his best not to groan watching him, “I’m really, really sorry- I can try to keep her quieter, I didn’t mean to disturb you, she’s just still getting used to the new noises around here and-”

“I don’t mean to cut you off, well I do- not because I’m an asshole or anything!!” _Good job Will, he’s so hot you can’t even make a coherent thought, get it together,_ “,,,Umm, this is going horribly isn’t it? Actually, I came to see if you’d let me pet your dog…”

“Oh?”

“Uh, yeah? You totally don’t have to though! I know this is pretty sudden, and you’ve probably just moved in so if you don’t want me to I get it!” Will is quick to reassure, before he remembers the cookies, “Also, I made cookies? So even if I can’t pet your dog will you at least take those?”

The guy has a slight smile on his face, and he seems like he’s trying not to laugh. Will awkwardly holds out the container of cookies towards him, but to no avail. 

The guy isn’t even going to give him the time of day Will realizes, defeated as he can see the other man turning around in his doorway.

“Mrs. O’Leary!”

Huh?

The guy looks back to Will and gives him a half genuine smile and a half smirk, “I know, it’s a dumb name, but I inherited her and she was already too old to change it.”

Will nods and extends the container of cookies again since his arms had dropped a little, it’s a bit awkward but the other guy must be an angel because he graciously accepts Wills gift with a smile and a quick “Thank you”. He pulls the door open more, and a large dog comes walking out of the apartment and into the hallway where Will is.

“Mrs. O’Leary, meet…?”

“Will.”

“Meet Will, Will meet Mrs. O’Leary the much beloved.”

She’s a big dog with a smooth coat, but she looks extremely fluffy and cuddly- all dogs are good dogs, but she’s an especially great one. Will can feel his tail sway side-to-side slightly just looking at her, _this was definitely a good idea,_ he thinks, sitting down to a good dog scratching level.

“She’s precious,” is all he says, there’s nothing else to say, she’s a wonderful precious fluffy dog who deserves all the love in the world.

“She is,” The other man ducks inside his apartment for a quick second, probably to set the cookies down somewhere, and Mrs. O’Leary rolls over and exposes her stomach to Will while he’s gone.

When he returns, Will has put both his hands to work making sure Mrs. O’Leary gets all the love she deserves, to the point where he is wrist deep in dog fur.

“I have a cat too if you’re interested?” 

Will looks up to him, “You just keep making my day better and better.”

The guy lets out a slight laugh, “I’ll go get her so you can pet the both of them at the same time.”

“If you could get your name too, that’d be great!” Will calls out as the man disappears into his apartment.

He returns less than a minute later carrying a silky looking black cat in his arms the same way you would hold a baby, “My name’s Nico, and this, Will, is Small Bob.”

He holds the cat out for Will to take, “Another inherited pet you would have liked to rename?”

Nico nods solemnly as he moves to sit down on the floor next to Will, “Sadly yes, for some reason everyone always leaves me their pets when they pass on- doesn’t matter how well I know them. My father likes dogs, so Mrs. O’Leary was no issue to him, he nearly refused to let me keep the cat though.”

“What?” Will shoots him a look that’s half a fake pout and half genuine, “How could anyone try to do that to someone so precious as this?”

Nico shrugs, “You know how beings are, always so quick to pass judgement.”

Will catches the tone and that he’s no longer talking just about his father’s preference for dogs over cats, “I get it, there were two girls talking at the mailbox earlier about how the owners didn’t even bother to send out a notice when a Huldra moved in- it’s not like I sing in the halls or anything.”

They share a bitter laugh, and Nico reaches out to start petting his cat too so Will focuses on Mrs. O’Leary, “Succubus don’t exactly have the best reputations either, to be honest I was surprised they even agreed to let me lease here.”

“I was surprised as well,” Will says, “but if you don’t have any criminal charges, what can they really do?”

“I actually have a misdemeanor charge for theft on my record, me and my cousin accidentally stole some cheap earrings from the mall when we were younger.”

Will laughs, “How’d that go?”

“Well, to say the least, we both got tickets and we weren’t even allowed to keep the earrings, so it was pretty sucky.”

“Sounds like a fun thing to explain to your parents.”

Nico chuckles, “You’d be surprised actually.”

“Well, my name’s not surprised, so I guess you had a lot of fun that day.”

Nico gives him a baffled look and then busts out into laughter.

“Sorry,” Will finds himself laughing along, “that was awful.”

“Trust me,” Nico says, still smiling, “it’s the only reason I laughed.”

They sit there for a minute, quiet and content with the silence and the petting of animals to keep their minds occupied. Nobody walks down the hallway, there isn’t the sound of doors opening and closing, or even the sound of yard work being down outside.There’s just the four of them sitting in a hallway appreciating the moment and the candle smell coming out of Nico’s open apartment door. 

“Hey, Will?”

“What’s up?” Will takes his hands off Mrs. O’Leary as she rolls over to give him better access to her ears.

“Would you, maybe, kind of sort of like to go on a date sometime?”

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe there will be a second chapter ; )
> 
> As always, you can follow me on tumblr as @the-ghost-king!


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